LONDO N:

A POE M:

IN IMITATION OF THE

THIRD SATIRE OF JUVENAL.

Written in 1738.

Quis ineptæ

Tam patiens urbis, tam ferreus ut teneat fe? Juv.

'THO' grief and fondness in

my

breaft rebel,

When injur'd THALES bids the town farewell,
Yet ftill my calmer thoughts his choice commend,
I praise the hermit, but regret the friend,
Refolv'd at length, from vice and LONDON far,
To breathe in diftant fields a purer air,
And, fix'd on Cambria's folitary fhore,
Give to St. David one true Briton more.

'For who would leave, unbrib'd, Hibernia's land, Or change the rocks of Scotland for the Strand?

JUV. SAT. III.

1 Quamvis digreffu veteris confusus amici; Laudo, tamen, vacuis quod fedem figere Cumis Deftinet, atque unum civem donare Sibyllæ.

2

Ego vel Prochytam præpono Suburræ,
Nam quid tam miferum, tam folum vidimus, ut non
Deterius credas horrere incendia, lapfus

Tectorum affiduos, & mille pericula fæva
Urbis, & Augufto recitantes menfe poetas?

There none are fwept by fudden fate away,
But all, whom hunger fpares, with age decay:
Here malice, rapine, accident, confpire,
And now a rabble rages, now a fire;
Their ambush here relentless ruffians lay,
And here the fell attorney prowls for prey;
Here falling houses thunder on your head,
And here a female Atheist talks you dead.

3 While THALES waits the wherry that contains
Of diffipated wealth the small remains,
On Thames's banks, in filent thought we ftood
Where Greenwich fmiles upon the filver flood;
Struck with the feat that gave ELIZA * birth,
We kneel, and kifs the confecrated earth;
In pleafing dreams the blissful age renew,
And call Britannia's glories back to view;
Behold her cross triumphant on the main,
The guard of commerce, and the dread of Spain,
Ere masquerades debauch'd, excife opprefs'd,
Or English honour grew a ftanding jeft.

A tranfient calm the happy fcenes bestow,
And for a moment lull the fense of woe.
At length awaking, with contemptuous frown,
Indignant THALES eyes the neighb'ring town.

+ Since worth, he cries, in these degenerate days Wants ev'n the cheap reward of empty praife;

3 Sed, dum tota domus rhedâ componitur unâ, Subftitit ad veteres arcus.

4 Hic tunc Umbritius: Quando artibus, inquit, honeftis Nullus in urbe locus, nulla emolumenta laborum,

Res hodie minor eft, heri quam fuit, atque eadem cras
Deteret exiguis aliquid: proponimus illuc

Ire, fatigatas ubi Dædalus exuit alas;

Dum nova canities.

* Queen Elizabeth, born at Greenwich.

In those curs'd walls, devote to vice and gain,
Since unrewarded fcience toils in vain ;

Since hope but fooths to double my diftrefs,

And every moment leaves my
While yet my steady steps no

little lefs;

5

staff sustains, And life ftill vig'rous revels in my veins;

Grant me, kind Heaven, to find fome happier place,
Where honefty and fenfe are no difgrace;

Some pleafing bank where verdant ofiers play,
Some peaceful vale with Nature's paintings gay;
Where once the harafs'd Briton found repofe,
And fafe in poverty defy'd his foes;
Some fecret cell, ye Pow'rs, indulgent give,

6 Let

live here, for has learn'd to live.
Here let thofe reign, whom penfions can incite
To vote a patriot black, a courtier white;
Explain their country's dear-bought rights away,
And plead for * pirates in the face of day;
With flavish tenets taint our poifon'd youth,
And lend a lie the confidence of truth.

7 Let fuch raise palaces, and manors buy, Collect a tax, or farm a lottery;

With warbling eunuchs fill our filenc'd stage,
And lull to fervitude a thoughtless age.

Porto meis, nullo dextram fubeunte bacillo.

6 Cedamus patriâ: vivant Arturius iftic

Et Catullus maneant qui nigra in candida vertunt.
7 Queis facile eft ædem conducere, flumina, portus,
Siccandam eluviem, portandum ad bufta cadaver.
Munera nunc edunt.

* The invasions of the Spaniards were defended in the houses of parliament.

The licensing act was then lately made.

Heroes, proceed! what bounds your pride fhall hold? What check reftrain your thirft of pow'r and gold? Behold rebellious virtue quite o'erthrown,

Behold our fame, our wealth, our lives, your own.
To fuch, the plunder of a land is giv❜n,
When publick crimes inflame the wrath of Heav'n:
But what, my friend, what hope remains for me,
Who start at theft, and blush at perjury?
Who fcarce forbear, tho' BRITAIN'S court he fing,
To pluck a titled poet's borrow'd wing;
A ftatefman's logick unconvinc'd can hear,
And dare to flumber o'er the * Gazetteer;
Defpife a fool in half his penfion drefs'd,
And strive in vain to laugh at Clodio's jest.

9 Others with fofter fmiles, and fubtler art,
Can fap the principles, or taint the heart;
With more addrefs a lover's note convey,
Or bribe a virgin's innocence away.

Well may they rife, while I, whose ruftick tongue
Ne'er knew to puzzle right, or varnish wrong,
Spurn'd as a beggar, dreaded as a spy,
Live unregarded, unlamented die.

10 For what but focial guilt the friend endears? Who fhares Orgilio's crimes, his fortune fhares.

8 Quid Romæ faciam? mentiri nefcio: librum, Si malus eft, nequeo laudare & pofcere.·

Ferre ad nuptam quæ mittit adulter,

Quæ mandat norint alii; me nemo miniftro
Fur erit, atque ideo nulli comes exeo.

10 Quis nunc diligitur nifi confcius ?

Carus erit Verri, qui Verrem tempore, quo vult,
Accufare poteft.

* The paper which at that time contained apologies for the

court.

"But

" But thou, fhould tempting villainy prefent
All Marlb'rough hoarded, or all Villiers spent,
Turn from the glitt'ring bribe thy scornful eye,
Nor fell for gold, what gold could never buy,
The peaceful flumber, felf-approving day,
Unfullied fame, and confcience ever gay.

12 The cheated nation's happy fav'rites, fee!
Mark whom the great carefs, who frown on me!
LONDON! the needy villain's gen'ral home,
The common-fewer of Paris and of Rome;
With eager thirft, by folly or by fate,
Sucks-in the dregs of each corrupted state.
Forgive my tranfports on a theme like this,
13 I cannot bear a French metropolis.

14 Illuftrious EDWARD! from the realms of day,
The land of heroes and of faints furvey;
Nor hope the British lineaments to trace,
The ruftick grandeur, or the furly grace;
But, loft in thoughtlefs eafe and empty fhow,
Behold the warrior dwindled to a beau;
Senfe, freedom, piety, refin'd away,

Of France the mimick, and of Spain the prey.
All that at home no more can beg or steal,
Or like a gibbet better than a wheel;

1

Omnis arena Tagi, quodque in mare volvitur aurum,
Ut fomno careas.

12 Quæ nunc divitibus gens acceptiffima noftris, Et quos præcipue fugiam, properabo fateri.

13 -Non poffum ferre, Quirites,

Græcam urbem.

14 Rufticus ille tuus fumit trechedipna, Quirine,

Et cer..natico fert niceteria collo.